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    Brooklyn: A Novel
    Brooklyn: A Novel
    Brooklyn: A Novel
    Ebook332 pages5 hours

    Brooklyn: A Novel

    By Colm Tóibín

    3.5/5

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    • Family

    • Immigration

    • Work

    • Homesickness

    • Friendship

    • Fish Out of Water

    • Coming of Age

    • Love Triangle

    • Power of Love

    • Star-Crossed Lovers

    • Mentorship

    • Opposites Attract

    • Betrayal

    • Family Drama

    • Prophecy

    • Personal Growth

    • Cultural Differences

    • Literature

    • Fiction

    • Religion

    About this ebook

    Colm Tóibín’s New York Times bestselling novel—also an acclaimed film starring Saoirse Ronan and Jim Broadbent nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture—is “a moving, deeply satisfying read” (Entertainment Weekly) about a young Irish immigrant in Brooklyn in the early 1950s.

    “One of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary literature” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.

    Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.

    Author “Colm Tóibín…is his generation’s most gifted writer of love’s complicated, contradictory power” (Los Angeles Times). “Written with mesmerizing power and skill” (The Boston Globe), Brooklyn is a “triumph…One of those magically quiet novels that sneak up on readers and capture their imaginations” (USA TODAY).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScribner
    Release dateMay 5, 2009
    ISBN9781439149829
    Author

    Colm Tóibín

    Colm Tóibín was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of several novels, including The Master, Brooklyn, and The Magician, and two collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.

    Read more from Colm Tóibín

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    Reviews for Brooklyn

    3.5/5

    2,038 ratings185 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a beautifully written novel that explores the immigrant experience in post-WW2 Brooklyn. While some reviewers felt that the story lacked depth and character development, others found it to be a heartfelt and gentle tale. The book offers a glimpse into the struggles and ties to home country that immigrants faced during that era. Overall, it is recommended for fans of Irish fiction.

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5

      Feb 7, 2018

      The story had me hooked from the beginning. I felt the book started off great and liked the characters and how the story was progressing. The biggest flaw, and what spoiled this book for me was the awkward intimacy and romance that Colm Toibin tried to pass off as endearing. The book did not redeem itself from the awkwardness of the romance scenes, which was very disappointing because the book held so much promise at the start of the book.
    • 4/5

      Feb 7, 2018

      I liked the book, but I was expecting to love it. I really liked the whole novel about coming to America and learning to live in America. Then it quickly had some fairly graphic sex scenes, which seemed a bit out of place. I also was not as impressed by the end of the book when she travels back to Ireland. (Don't want to write to much and spoil the story).
    • 2/5

      Feb 7, 2018

      This was a book club choice and was very frustrating for me. I was expecting so much more after reading the brief description of "Hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking". Really, Where? I found it boring. Eilis was a spineless, flat character who was unable to think for herself. I did take in consideration she was young and it was the 50's and a more innocent time I guess compared to the cynical time we live in now and once Tony entered the story the pace picked up a bit but the story still felt too dreamy and perfect. During the 3rd part I was getting so mad at the fact she was such a twit. Her decisions were ridicules. (Maybe this was the "Heartbreaking" part).How this book was ever considered for a movie is beyond me. I have not seen the movie but I hope they added much more to it than what the book offered.If you love Hallmark channel movies and sappy chic lit then you will probably give this 4 or 5 stars. It was just not my cup of tea.
    • 4/5

      Nov 9, 2010

      Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn is one of the most perfectly structured novels I have read. This is often said about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. Unlike Gatsby, Brooklyn is told in a simple and direct style from the point of view of an introspective, somewhat shy Irish woman, Eilis. Her observations are accurate, pragmatic, and tolerant with minimal interpretation as she enters the workforce in Ireland, limited in opportunities for women. Her older sister Rose recognizes Eilis’ talent and is instrumental in getting her a work and living placement in Brooklyn with the help of a new era Catholic priest. Though there are many restrictions in America on women, Eilis is able to make advancements given her grit, patience and business talent, much more than in Ireland. There are universal life traps in America as in Ireland that restrict freedom and opportunity for women. Abandoning one set of expectations for another, Eilis comes to the realization of her inevitable lost independence in both countries. Freedom and determination are undermined by love and regret regardless of setting.The perfect structure and simple and direct style is consistent and seamless from start to finish. I did not want the story to end.
    • 5/5

      Dec 7, 2016

      Spare, beautiful writing gives this novel three stars. But the story itself is so lacking in depth, with unrealized characters. Eilis, the protaganist, offers so much potential for the author to plumb the history of the immigrant -- their myriad reasons for coming here, the struggles to make it, the ties to their home country.
    • 5/5

      May 27, 2016

      It ended too soon! But it was such a nice read, I need more books like this.
    • 4/5

      Sep 22, 2016

      A glimpse into immigration in post WW2 Brooklyn. Full of the tone of the time.
    • 4/5

      Sep 3, 2020

      Ended too soon.
    • 3/5

      Jan 3, 2016

      Beautifully witten, lack of any real main charater conflict makes it hard to continue reading. She is so bland, going with everyone's plans for her that I never was able to connect. Story ends without any real change in attitude, actions, or plot. I felt sad at the end. There's no way this made a good movie without serious director liberties.
    • 5/5

      Dec 8, 2015

      Great book. Would recommend this to anyone who likes Irish fiction.
    • 2/5

      Jan 26, 2017

      I trudged through this book but was wholly unimpressed. I never did like the main character Eilis. She seemed to be extremely shallow and self-centered. Perhaps it's just that the character wasn't developed well at all. I enjoyed the sections that took place in Ireland much more than those that were set in Brooklyn. In fact, I'm not sure why the book is titled as it is because I did not walk away with a feeling about Brooklyn at this time period. It seemed to be an incidental setting and nothing more. The ending was very unsatisfying, on several levels. I was disappointed because I expected to read a good book, judging from the subject and what I read on the back of the book.
    • 3/5

      Jan 26, 2017

      good writing, but i found it to be a little dull. An irish girl is torn from her family, her country and all she knows to live and work in Brooklyn. Nothing much happens, until the end. I had such high expectations and was a little disappointed!
    • 3/5

      Jan 26, 2017

      The novel is enjoyable enough, though I found the author picked and dropped themes a number of times: commercial law, the Holocaust, baseball, finally settling on romance, which I found a path, way overused. The prose is sparse leaving the reader to fill in the blanks, like the characters and the time when the story takes place, but the plot is weighty enough to propel it forward.
    • 2/5

      Jan 26, 2017

      I struggled with this - it's eminently readable, but there was just something flat and passive about the whole story. This is partly the fault of the main character, Eilis, who is completely incapable of taking charge of her life at any stage of the story. She moves from Ireland to the US because her family pushes her into it, falls in love with a guy because he likes her, goes back to Ireland because her brother tells her she should, and so on and so on. It's obviously intentional, but it left me unable to sympathise much with the character and largely uninterested in what happened to her. I'm sure I'm missing something, but this just didn't work for me.
    • 3/5

      Nov 29, 2024

      A young woman, stuck in a small Irish town in the 1950s, with no sign of any opportunity to make something of her life beyond a humiliating one-day-a-week job in a grocery shop, gets the chance to emigrate and make a new life for herself in the USA. It's all very lovingly crafted, with plenty of engaging details of life in Ireland and Brooklyn and insights into what a frightening adventure it would be for someone who has never travelled anywhere suddenly to find herself having to manage all this on her own. I enjoyed all the stuff about how department stores worked and had to laugh at the innocent pleasure the parish priest takes in his power to manipulate people (in a good way, naturally). Tóibín clearly did his research.

      But it's a bit disappointing to find that everything descends into a kind of pastiche Victorian novel in the last half of the book, with Eilis torn between the two good men who both love her on their respective sides of the ocean. We all love a good, weepy romance, but surely a writer like Tóibín could have come up with something a little more original — and a little more worthy of twenty-first century insight.
    • 4/5

      Nov 21, 2024

      I really enjoyed this book more than I thought. I gave it 4 stars because I felt like the ending was weird and abrupt and just didn't fit the rest of the story. It just felt off for some reason. I listened to the audio book and really loved the narrator. Very easy book to listen to/read and got sucked in quickly. I'm excited to read the second book. Crazy that it came out 9 years later!

      [spoiler] This book takes place in the 1950s about the main character who is Irish and she moves to Brooklyn to get a job. She gets homesick and ends up starting night school to keep her busy. She is living with a lady who many girls live with. There's house drama. And there's a priest who helps her too. Love the 50s settings, i could feel it. The store starts selling nylons for black people and that was a big deal. It made me sad, much like the state of racism today. You'd think since the 50s it would have improved. Anyway, she ends up meeting a boy at the "dance" - which just reminded me of my grandmother and great aunt talking about going to the dances. And that was in the 30s and 40s. She meets a boy and she does like him. But she is definitely more reserved than he is when it comes to the emotions, but she comes around. I wouldn't call it deep love from how the book describes it, but she does seem to care for him. Her sister suddenly dies, so she goes back home. And prior to leaving, she promises him that she'll come back. And he convinces her they should get married before she leaves. And she agrees. Oh, they also banged before this. So she goes home and that's where the end of the book just seems to race to the end. She's back and she's hanging out with friends and in no time, she's making out with some other guy. I guess it was to prove that she really didn't love her husband. But it just seemed weird. It seemed to happen fast. There was no build up. They hung out twice or something and then they're making out? It just didn't seem to fit her character, I guess. And I felt so horrible for the mother. She had no one there in Ireland. Rose died, and the son lived somewhere else. And the mother was hopeful that her daughter would now stay and marry this guy she seemed to be hitting it off with. Word got back to a town gossip that she was with someone back in Brooklyn and that scared her to finally book her trip back home. Her mother was strong but devastated. And this other guy, she just left a note at the door and left. And that was pretty much the end of the book. Like bam. What? I still enjoyed the story even though the ending felt rushed. I feel like I"m always saying, "this book could've been shorter" but this book could've been longer! I don't say that too often!
    • 4/5

      Oct 27, 2024

      Eilis Lacey has lived in Enniscorthy, Ireland all her life and is now trying to find her footing as a young adult. Her father is dead; Eilis lives with her mother and older sister Rose. Rose has managed to establish some independence, working an office job and spending her free time playing golf. Eilis finds temporary work in a shop, but a full-time job seems unlikely. Seemingly out of nowhere, Eilis is presented with the opportunity to emigrate to the United States and settle in Brooklyn. Eilis’ sister and mother fully support this plan, and with very little discussion Eilis is propelled forward until one day she disembarks in New York.

      Thank goodness for Father Flood, a Brooklyn priest who emigrated from Enniscorthy himself. He takes Eilis under his wing, arranging lodging and a job in a department store. He recruits Eilis to spend Christmas serving dinner to those in need, encourages her to attend weekly dances held at the church, and helps her enroll in night school to study bookkeeping. All of this helps Eilis overcome her extreme homesickness, as does her relationship with Tony, a local of Italian descent. Just as they become serious, Eilis has to return home for an extended visit.

      Back in Enniscorthy, everyone assumes Eilis is home to stay, but as before there is no conversation about this. Eilis didn’t–or was unable to–assert herself with her mother, and doesn’t explain herself to her friends either. The longer she remained in Ireland, the more ambivalent she seemed. Honestly, at this point I didn’t understand what Eilis was thinking and feeling, nor did I understand what finally motivated her to make a decision about her future. While I felt it was the right decision and made for a satisfactory ending, I wanted more emotion and character development.
    • 3/5

      Oct 27, 2024

      An interesting story about a young woman torn between her new life in America and her old one in Ireland. Not great but not bad either.
    • 4/5

      Oct 19, 2024

      beautifully written presentation of characters. Much detail regarding their thoughts and environment exquisitely presented. Cared so much about so many of them I was sad to complete the book. even though some actions and results leaned toward the unbelievable that did not distract from my caring for them.
    • 3/5

      Oct 8, 2024

      This book was long-listed for a Booker prize when it came out. Because of that, I was expecting something special. It is good, but not memorable. I loved the locales and I loved the characters, but there was not much going on. I had trouble relating to Eilis Lacey, and she did some pretty dumb things throughout the book. I am a little disappointed as I expected so much more. Even the romance was tepid. I felt like shaking Eilis a few times. The writing is good and very descriptive. But there just wasn’t enough substance.
    • 4/5

      Sep 18, 2024

      Coming of age in small-town Ireland in he years following World War II, Ellis Lacey is one of many of her generation who cannot find a job in the miserable economy. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Ellis to live and work in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.
      Ellis takes up her new life in a crowded Brooklyn boarding house, working in a department store on Fulton Street. Slowly, the pain of parting is buried beneath the rhythms of her new life, until she finds a sort of happiness-and
      , when she least expects it, love-but then, devasting news from home threatens the promise of her future.
    • 4/5

      Jul 9, 2023

      I've got about 20 pages left. Really great characters. Colm Toibin really has a way of creating an atmosphere that is lovely despite its somewhat depressing subject matter. This story definitely brings back memories of moving away from home and starting something new. Most gripping to me personally is the perfectly captured essence of how it feels to return home after having left for the first time, and how it wasn't (and still isn't) at all as one expects.

      Finished it... good book, but pretty bleak outlook. Felt sad at the end. Very realistic.
    • 5/5

      Jul 30, 2015

      such a gentle heartfelt story.
    • 3/5

      Aug 17, 2024

      Meandering, plotless, wooden one-dimensional characters. Why did this get such good press
      I glossed over the last hundred pages
    • 4/5

      Jan 23, 2023

      This is a quick and entertaining read. I do think I was relating to Eilis a little too much, because I was having all "the feels" through much of it: a little sad, a little anxious, a little frustrated. And then...the end??!! What??? I was disappointed at first at the abruptness of it, but after a day to mull it over I came to the conclusion that it really couldn't end any other way. It was like pushing away from the table before dessert; even though I really wanted that slice of cake, I soon realized that I was quite satisfied with what I had. Any more would have been just too much.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5

      Jan 26, 2017

      This is a popcorn read where the economy in plot made the pages flew. The book was done before I knew it, and I AM a slow reader. The story: In the 1950’s, Eilis’ adult life in Ireland wasn’t going anywhere. Through her sister Rose’s arrangements, Eilis moves to Brooklyn, works as a store clerk, attends night classes, meets a boy, falls in love, a tragedy, a secret, returns to Ireland to visit, the will weakens, a trigger, a decision is made. The end. :) So what’s up with all these accolades? I decided this is a “thinking” book – Eilis’ thoughts to be exact. The reader is in Eilis’ head ALL THE TIME. She observes the world around her, forms opinions, trades-off on situations, takes an action, or decides to do nothing. We know her motives, her restraints, her frustrations, and her confusions. It’s life, in all its complexities, rendered in words. It’s nuisance to the nth degree on paper. It’s important to note that the author is a male walking us through a female’s mind. One other thing stood out for me – the clash of races: the Irish, the Italians, the Jews, the Norwegians, the “coloured”. Nobody gets a pass. Racism and intolerance existed long ago. Like Billy Joel said, “We didn’t start the fire.”One quote – cuz it’s the only thing that made me grin in the bookOn religion:“’It’s a funny place, Brooklyn,’ Father Flood said. ‘As long as the guy in charge is not Norwegian – and in a college that’s unlikely – then I can pull strings most places. The Jews are the best, they always love doing something for you. Say a prayer it’s a Jewish fellow who believes in the power of the collar. We’ll try the best college first, and that’s Brooklyn College. I love breaking all the rules…’”
    • 3/5

      Jan 26, 2017

      This slim novel is set in the early 1950s. Eilis is just finishing her studies, living at home in a small town in Ireland with her widowed mother and older sister, Rose. Her three brothers have all gone to England for work. Rose encourages Eilis to get more training in bookkeeping, so she might have a good office job one day, and Eilis goes along with this plan. When an opportunity presents itself for Eilis to go to America for a better job, Rose encourages her to do so. The parish priest sees to it that she has a safe rooming house in which to live, a good job, and even gets her into Brooklyn College to continue her studies in bookkeeping. She’s a lonely girl, however. Never really confiding in anyone about her thoughts or feelings, she even denies most of her thoughts and feelings to herself. She meets a young man who slowly begins to enter her life and heart, but just as they are beginning to consider a future together, tragedy strikes Eilis’s family back in Ireland and she must go home for a visit. Or is she going back to Ireland to stay?There isn’t a terribly complicated plot here, and the writing is fairly simple and straightforward. But there is plenty of tension in Eilis’s inner turmoil. She’s never sure how she feels, or what she should do, and, as a result, she’s easily swayed by the arguments or cajoling of her coworkers, roommates, friends, or family. She does not want to disappoint anyone, and so she inevitably disappoints nearly everyone – especially herself.The novel explores what it means to emigrate – the pain of leaving home behind vs the excitement of a new ___location; the warm embrace of family vs the loneliness of living on one’s own in a strange place. It is also a story about how one young woman sets out to make a life for herself – and wonders if she’s made the right choices.I enjoyed this novel and I think it will make for a good discussion at my F2F book club, but I can’t give it more than 3 stars because I didn’t connect with Eilis. That is intentional, I think, on the author’s part. Eilis is written as a very cautious young woman, who keeps her thoughts and emotions carefully hidden from others – including the reader. The result is a book that I appreciate but don’t “love.”
    • 4/5

      Jan 26, 2017

      Colm Tóibín's Brooklyn is simple storytelling at its best. This is a novel which doesn't accomplish much. It doesn't woo or provoke; it doesn't spend long developing characters or wallowing in language. It's a plot-driven story that really focuses on the story. Normally, I'm not a big fan of plot-driven fiction. For me, character is much more important and language can be a definite boon. The story here, however, is so wonderfully plotted and paced, so delicately handled, that I didn't mind the lack of additional layers. This is a novel that doesn't rely on bells and whistles. It doesn't need the added noise. Just the simple voice of an author telling a story that is beautiful and captivating.
    • 1/5

      Jul 27, 2022

      I can't believe I DNF this one. Toibin is one of my favourite writers, yet this novel became an utter chore after a while.

      Melodramatic plot, shallow characterization, cringy "love" scenes and awful dialogue. I mean, the main character comforts her mother following the death of her sister with a weak "It's such a shock"...
    • 2/5

      Feb 17, 2012

      I must agree with the other 2-3 star reviewers. I found the characters muted and I got no sense of how the characters felt. Eilis's reaction to her sister's death never made sense. Toibin's simply stated how the characters felt but did nothing to convince me of how they felt. There should have been more dialogue. I did get a sense of the times and class issues but I can't get that from anyone. Basically, if it had been a longer book I would not have finished it. Based on what I heard about Toibin, I expected more. This was the lowest I have rated a book in over 2 years. I have read the 5 star reviews and I still do not get what they see in the book. Having a single narrator definitely hurt the book. It would have helped to see the world through the eyes of other characters. I doubt if I would pick up any more books by Toibin. Very disappointing!!!!

      3 people found this helpful

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    Brooklyn - Colm Tóibín

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